Vas03 by Abu Sayem

Issue 03 November 2017 ,

Issue 03 Published in November 2017 Second Edition, December 2017.

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A newsletter from Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements. Editor:

Published by: Kazi Khaleed Ashraf, Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements, Bengal Centre, Plot 2, Civil Aviation, Khilkhet, Dhaka - 1229, Bangladesh. Phone: +8809666773311 Email: info@arch.bengal.institute Web: www.arch.bengal.institute

Mohammad Tauheed Assistant Editors:

Farhat Afzal, Muntakim Haque Editorial Associate:

Maleeha Mazen Khan Contributors:

‘Vas’ Logo Designed by:

Navid Hasnain Photo on the cover by:

Shamim Shorif Susom Credits and copyright information of most photographs, art / design work are mentioned on the individual pages. Uncredited photographs are taken by Farhat Afzal, Mizanur Rahman Khoka, Afzalur Rahman, Mohammad Tauheed and Bengal Institute’s participants of the Academic Programs. Price: 150 BDT

Tazrin Ahmed, Dhrubo Alam, Shushmita Mizan, Fatiha Polin, Farhana Rashid Designed by:

Irteza Ameen, Shakib Ahmed Lam

Team

Executive Board

Advisory Board

Kazi Khaleed Ashraf Director General

Chairperson Abul Khair

Chairperson Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

Luva Nahid Choudhury

Chairman, Bengal Foundation

Chairman, BRAC

Chief Adviser A.K. Abdul Momen

Members

Director Administrative

Marina Tabassum Director Academic

Saif Ul Haque Director Research Program

Professor Emeritus, Framingham State University, Massachusetts

Sameen Elahi

Professor Emeritus, Dhaka University

Chief Coordinator

Mohammad Tauheed Academic Coordinator

Masudul Islam Shammo Research Coordinator

Nusrat Sumaiya Associate Research Coordinator

Rashed Hassan Chowdhury Design and Communications Coordinator

Farhat Afzal Academic Associate

Tazrin Ahmed Research Associate

Dhrubo Alam Research Associate

Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury Research Associate

Muntakim Haque Contents Associate

Maleeha Mazen Khan Editorial Associate

Rubaiya Nasrin Research Associate

Fatiha Polin Research Associate

Hassan Mohammad Rakib Research Associate

Members

Balkrishna Doshi Architect, Ahmedabad

Kenneth Frampton Principal Architect, J.A. Architects Ltd.

Professor, Columbia University, New York

Salauddin Ahmed

Gary Hack

Principal Architect, Atelier Robin Architects

Dean Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Kazi Khaleed Ashraf

Rounaq Jahan

Director General, Bengal Institute

Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue

Jalal Ahmad

Raﬁq Azam Principal Architect, Shatotto

Suha Ozkan

Belal Ehsan Baaquie

Architect and Architectural Historian, Bodrum/Istanbul

Professor of Finance, The Global University of Islamic Finance, Kuala Lumpur

Luva Nahid Choudhury

Michael Sorkin Architect and Professor, City University, New York

Director General, Bengal Foundation; Principal Architect, Abashan Upodeshta Ltd.

Stanley Tigerman

Kashef Mahbub Chowdhury

Dean and Professor, State University of Bangladesh, Dhaka

Principal Architect, URBANA

Iqbal Habib Architect-Director, Vitti Sthapati Brindo Ltd.

Saif Ul Haque

Aﬁfa Razzaque

Principal, Saif Ul Haque Sthapati

Program Associate

Nahas Khalil

Mohammad Arfar Razi

Anisuzzaman

Research Associate

Principal Architect, ARC Architectural Consultants

Afreen Ahmed Rochana

Ehsan Khan

Research Associate

Farah Jalil

Principal Architect, Ehsan Khan Architects

Research Associate

ASM Shahidullah Khan

Zarin Tasnim

Chairman, Editorial Board, New Age

Research Associate

Marina Tabassum Principal Architect, Marina Tabassum Architects

Architect, Chicago

Shamsul Wares

02 03

Issue 01

Fall Sequence 2015

Issue 02

Spring Sequence 2016

Second Edition, March 2016 First Edition, February 2016

First Edition, December 2016

Scan this code to view the online version of the ﬁrst issue of VAS.

Scan this code to view the online version of the second issue of VAS.

Critical times call for self-reflection and conceptual repositionings; the application of critical theory and thinking are then needed to set things right. The world of design needs it more often than other disciplines. This is particularly so because design is not a territory of pure mathematical logic, but a fluid one with the mixture of imaginative lucidity and functional pragmatism of lived human experience. The academic sessions of Fall 2016 Sequence were devoted to looking back, reflecting and theorising; one session was focused on the theories of architecture, and another involving dialogs with two of the greatest living thought leaders of our time, BV Doshi and Juhani Pallasmaa. Meanwhile the Research and Design team of Bengal Institute organized the first major public exhibition of their works during this time. The exhibition ‘Next Dhaka’ at the Bengal Art Lounge at Gulshan and at the Bengal Classical Music Festival 2016 was a huge success with enthusiastic public participation and dialogues.

How Does Theory Help to Understand the Horizon of Architecture?

04 05 Sketches by Kazi Ashraf

Theory Theory lets one understand, imagine, compare, and reﬂect. It brings about the understanding of the genealogy, spirit and motivations of a design. While theory and design practice are now seen as Siamese twins, theory is also a kind of practice— a practice of reﬂection and critique.

critical topics in contemporary landscape, human settlements and urbanism. Kazi Khaleed Ashraf encouraged pondering on the questions: What is the role of theory in architecture? What is the necessity of theory? What does a building do? How does theory help to understand the horizon of architecture?

Earliest practitioners of architecture were usually part of a guild. Architects of ancient India for instance were primarily priests. During the Renaissance in Europe, architecture soon acquired an intellectual anchoring that considered a building as an “ediﬁce,” an instrument for moral and spiritual ediﬁcation. The modern foundation for a theoretical consideration of architecture was born in that milieu that evolved over the next few centuries through various refractions and reconsiderations.

Timmy Aziz was invited as a guest speaker, who along with Kazi Ashraf, demonstrated the signiﬁcance of the body in architecture. The demonstration encompassed the relationship between viewpoints on the body that various cultures held and the architecture that they practiced. By showing the effects that motion pictures had on early audiences, the consequential inﬂuence that perception has on design was established. The importance of representation and perspective in architecture was highlighted, along with the role art plays in shaping them.

The discussion in the session began with Vitruvius, a Roman military engineer and architect, who spent much of his life categorising ancient Greek Architecture. He was the first to ever write a book on architecture and these contributions helped establish the earliest basis of architecture theory. Following this, the influence of Leon Alberti’s ideas was examined, Andrea Palladio’s drawings of Villa Rotunda was probed and MarcAntoine Laugier’s philosophy of architecture inspired by reductionism was inspected. Furthermore, Gottfried Semper’s approach to architecture from his analytique of a simple Caribbean hut was divulged, the intimate connection with landscape in Frank Lloyd Wright's works was identified, Le Corbusier’s evolving views of architecture and Mies Van der Rohe’s minimalism were outlined. These were the key facets that were featured in the narration of the evolution of architecture, from the Classical to the Modern age as far as Euro-American culture is concerned. The session ‘Theory?’ was organised as an in-depth discussion on key ideas shaping architecture and urban landscapes today. Conversations covered evolution of essential themes in architecture design and theory, and

Throughout the course of this session, it was attempted that an informed mindset be instilled that would allow the participants to deal with the challenges posed by modern and contemporary architecture. The thought process behind the works of architects and the ideas of the others who were featured, were the focal points of the seminar. It is evident that in order to produce “good” architecture, one has to know what creates a “good.” An outlook on the present landscape of the field was given by providing accounts of the shift from modern to postmodern architecture that took place over the past few decades. Every era and style has contributed to the consciousness of current architects and the demands of our current age is directing their work. The seminar concluded with discussing the designs of cities and how they could be modified to better fit our current circumstances.

Architecture in the Landscape in Bangladesh

06 07 Image from Fuad Quaiumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presentation

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Architecture in the Landscape in Bangladesh

Opposite Page - Workshop conducted by Khondaker Hasibul Kabir during September session “Architecture in the Landscape of Bangladesh”

Organised as a three-week-long program, the objective of the September session was to better understand the relationship between architecture and landscape with particular attention to works and practices in Bangladesh. Jalal Ahmad, Salauddin Ahmed, Rafiq Azam, Kazi Khaleed Ashraf, Saif Ul Haque, Khondaker Hasibul Kabir, Nahas Khalil, Ehsan Khan, Marina Tabassum and Iqbal Habib of Vitti Sthapati Brindo Ltd. were featured in the course. The session had seminars with Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, founders of one of the prominent architectural practices in Asia - Neri & Hu Design and Research Office, based in Shanghai. A screening of the critically acclaimed documentary Shunte Ki Pao was arranged to help understand the challenging relationship that the dwellers have with the landscape of Bangladesh. The session concluded with a forum that included Jalal Ahmad, Salauddin Ahmed, Rafiq Azam, Iqbal Habib, Saif Ul Haque, Ehsan Khan and Marina Tabassum, while Kazi Khaleed Ashraf moderated the event. The panel discussed landscapes and habitats in a quest to find the role architects can play in moderating the relationship between them.

referenced as they give legibility to a city and help make them navigable. He proclaimed that the human body was the epicentre of the landscape and cited Geoffrey Bawa's Lunuganga and Kerry Hill's ITC Sonar Bangla Hotel in Kolkata as examples that demonstrate this. Khondaker Hasibul Kabir listed the ways of ﬁnding forms and fabrics of architecture in a place as the following: spaces, paths, edges, threshold, foci and detail. In order to understand the landscape better, one has to consider the identity of a particular place and design by involving its people. To work with the landscape seamlessly, Kabir believes it is important to build trust between humans and animals.

Bangladesh hosts one of the most demanding landscapes in the globe. The geographic location and biodiversity makes dwelling here a unique challenge.

Ehsan Khan presented some remarkable projects representing "architecture in the landscape," including the Nishorgo Nature Interpretation Centre. He mentioned the building was conceptualised to be like a ﬂoating deck. The building was designed in a way that it could withstand the climate and weather of all districts. The design team’s main goal was to keep nature as undisturbed as possible. Material selection was also done carefully, in which concrete was chosen as part of the process. The material contradicts nature and was a challenge to work with, but in a long run, it will prove to be durable.

Many architects here have made efforts to build and grow their works in the landscape, or think through landscape. Jalal Ahmad, Salauddin Ahmed, Raﬁq Azam, Kazi Khaleed Ashraf, Saif Ul Haque, Khondaker Hasibul Kabir, Nahas Khalil, Ehsan Khan and Marina Tabassum are some of the most prominent among them, who incidentally shared their wisdom with the participants of Bengal Institute as part of the September 2016 Session.

Nahas Khalil discussed the role of architecture in the deltaic landscape. Much of our problems can be solved, if there were waterfront properties in both cities and rural areas. He thinks our mindset regarding planning and designing has been corrupted; we have lost sight of what the deﬁnition of urban and rural should be. Planning should be thinking ahead of the problem. Instead, planning is considered as troubleshooting.

According to Kazi Khaleed Ashraf, the fundamentals of landscape design are topography, climate and gravity. He believes that architecture is a landscape event. Kevin Lynch's ﬁve points were

Saif Ul Haque believes that architecture is connected to change, and architects are the ones who bring in change. He mentioned that the basic setting of the connection between roadside house, nature and humans in Bengal has

remained unchanged over the last 100 years, despite all the advancements since then. He believes houses must be built in a way that it does not obstruct the path of sunlight in one's neighbouring houses. He does not believe in creating environmental damage by importing expensive ‘cladding materials’ that need to be shipped from abroad by burning fuel. He also mentions the importance of hand-drawn drawings, while also noting the convenience of digital technologies. Salauddin Ahmed talked about the ﬁve views on matters important to him and his architecture practice. The ﬁve points are: - Paradox - Denial versus acceptance - Concept vs criterion - Tactility and memory - Observation and interpretation To understand landscape design solutions in urban context, Salauddin Ahmed invited participants of the September session to visit a residence in Gulshan designed by him. He showed the participants the circulation loop of the residence and how he utilised the terraces to the full extent by planting trees and inviting natural light and ventilation inside. Iqbal Habib of Vitti Sthapati Brindo Ltd. presented some signature works, focusing on large scale urban intervention, water urbanism or landscape. He discussed the following factors coupling architecture and landscape: - Beholding the nature instead of interpreting it. - Phenomenology of landscape (site, context etc.). - Responsive towards natural catalysts - Human content - democratisation of space. - Need of special groups - prioritising minority groups like children, women, older citizens and people with disability.

10 11 From left 1. Lunuganga by Geoffrey Bawa 2.Panigram Eco Resort by Marina Tabassum Architects 3. Nijera Cottage and Village Industries by Atelier Robin Architects 4. Residence by Shatotto 5. Suborno Dighi by J.A. Architects Ltd. 6. School Building for Supporting communities affected by river erosion by Jalal Ahmed Architects 7. Nishorgo Nature Interpretation Centre by Vitti Sthapati Brindo Ltd. 8. Training and Resource Centre of BARC at Faridpur by Diagram Architects.

Iqbal Habib deﬁned water urbanism as a place for public euphoria with ample visual and physical attainment all day and night, with access to both water and land. He said edge was something which deﬁned the relationship between water and land.

Char, cow sheds were placed near the houses so that the animals don't get purloined by robbers at night. He involved everyone in the community by engaging unskilled labour with cutting land and by involving skilled labour with building houses.

Bangladesh has a lot of distinctive and diverse landscapes. Some of that diversity is reﬂected in many of the works by Jalal Ahmad. The relationship between natural elements like land and water and built-forms was discussed. An example of that relationship was TARC in Faridpur and in Bogra—where only the mound below the building was raised, the rest of the area was left undisturbed.

Fuad Quaium talked about the various ecological conditions in different parts of Bangladesh. He mentioned the concept of ecotone, a transition area between two biomes. Sal trees are an example of that. He also talked about the importance of working with landscape by keeping the history of nature in mind. When designing landscape, one must keep in mind that without planting trees, one cannot bring in water. If a forest is cleared water cannot reach that area, resulting in ruins of the biodiversity of that place. Deforestation is causing water scarcity in hilly areas. The cutting off of trees causes drying up of the rivers, that in turn causes destruction of the topsoil leading to lesser possibility of cultivation.

Jalal Ahmad also talked about his project for supporting communities affected by river erosion in Gaibandha. He mentioned some speciﬁc features of each village he worked at. In Village 1 in Uria, the courtyard was fully utilised. All cowsheds were placed near the edge of the pond so that the waste can be disposed of easily. In Village 2 in Paschim Belkar

12 13 Left - Sketch by Khondaker Hasibul Kabir ; Right - Sketches by Salauddin Ahmed Opposite Page - Sketches by Khondaker Hasibul Kabir

Marina Tabassum mentioned that, her obsession lies in how to make a space breathe. She does not see architecture and landscape as two different entities. For her, the ďŹ rst act of landscaping is putting an object on site, a space that is not just the architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s boundary but one that starts getting bigger till it is beyond time. Then comes how the built form engages with the land. Another act of landscape is how one addresses nature with architecture. Act of landscaping is not placing trees or vegetating certain patches of land. But understanding how various elements work with one another is how the architect herself sees the act of landscape. When an object stands three dimensionally, it must radiate attention outside of its boundary line. It must engage with its surroundings like road, neighbourhood buildings and boundary line.

RaďŹ q Azam believes that working with landscape in a dense fabric like Dhaka is quite different from working near the ocean like Geoffrey Bawa had done. He mentioned how he creates abstractions and an overall surreal effect by placing ponds and boats in houses, which is unheard of in urban cities. He was told by artist Mustafa Monowar that architecture is like watercolour. The colour seeps through and makes the paper visible at one point. Just how paper is the base for watercolour, the ground is the base for architecture and the connection with the ground must be evident. However, the architect himself believes that architecture can be different from that ideology too; it is not like a prescription that must be followed.

September session concluded with a forum titled "Architecture in the Landscape," moderated by Kazi Khaleed Ashraf. The forum was joined by Jalal Ahmad, Salauddin Ahmed, Raﬁq Azam, Iqbal Habib, Saif Ul Haque, Ehsan Khan and Marina Tabassum. The discussion encompassed architecture, landscape, culture, philosophy, and lived experience. Priorities have warped as there seems to be a shift away from the landscape in architecture. The value of landscape has been diminished in our perception. Aspects of the landscape are increasingly seen as threats, whereas they can be enriching to the lived experience if they are incorporated into architecture rather than fought away. The importance of seeing changes made to the landscape as guiding and reorganising of existing aspects of it rather than designing and creating its various sections. Landscape has always been an ambiguous terminology among practitioners of architecture, which has been perceived differently by each

person, Kazi Ashraf noted. The term can also be interpreted in a variety of ways nature, site, location, place, space and so on. He mentioned that representation of the site is an architect’s primary tool and asked whether one should work keeping the limitations of this tool in mind, or work to overcome them. He also called for caution against seeing landscape as a permanent, static phenomenon because it is not always the case. Ehsan Khan explained the importance of thinking about the land and the ground surface, the vegetation, the inﬂuence of light and air, and the permanence of a project when working in a landscape. These points are crucial when trying to create an environment while working within that environment. He added that the deltaic landscape in Bangladesh is ﬂeeting, and it is important to identify which elements of it are more stable than others. Salauddin Ahmed read an excerpt by David Orr called What is Education for?,

14 15 From left Ehsan Khan, Raﬁq Azam, Saif Ul Haque, Marina Tabassum, Iqbal Habib, Jalal Ahmad, Salauddin Ahmed and Kazi Khaleed Ashraf at the forum "Architecture in the Landscape,"

which is relevant to the current situation in the deltaic landscape. He emphasised on combining ethics and conscience with education when approaching one’s work. As works only catered towards convenience and efficiency has created of the worst messes created by human beings. Iqbal Habib talked about the influence architects who came before, have on current ones. From Le Corbusier, they learned how to view architecture in cinematic visions. From Louis Kahn, they learned how to create architecture from nothingness and how to work with context. He mentioned the factors coupling landscape and architecture. Rafiq Azam said that, as humans, nature is for us to appreciate. But he also believes that one has to be sensitive when intervening with nature. Landscape can be interpreted in various ways. We must understand our relationship with the land and the fragility of it. The distinction between architecture and landscape must be blurred.

Saif Ul Haque addressed architecture as ‘what?’ and landscape as ‘where?’. He added that there is a physical landscape and a cultural one, within which the work of an architect lies. He outlined the key aspects leading to a successful architecture project. Necessity, location, existing condition, proposal and then transition complete this workﬂow. Jalal Ahmad thinks that land, water and built form are intricately connected and our living is related to all three of them. The projects he displayed showed real sensitivity and depth in catering to the needs of the intended demography. He then went on to outline the beneﬁts of incorporating greenery into one’s work and how the interaction of people with plant life improves both sustainability and quality of life. Marina Tabassum said architecture and landscape are integral part of each other. She mentioned she doesn’t see landscape and architecture as distinct features and recommended thinking of all architecture as an act on the landscape.

The beginning of architecture happens when the object is placed on the site and how it is placed is the basis of the way it engages landscape. The panel then continued the discussion about an integrated, transdisciplinary future. Architecture education was also heavily debated with the conclusion that there is a genuine need for further incorporation of environmental sensitivity, moral responsibility and poetic sensibilities. The role of egoism involved with leaving a legacy and how it could do more harm than good was also discussed.

A for Architecture, C for City and Everything In-between

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A for Architecture, C for City and Everything In-between The scope of architecture encompasses more than just creating buildings. In its extended sense, architecture now involves the design of towns and cities, the rearrangement of landscapes and the provision of well-being of communities. Architecture involves the pragmatic and the technical; the innovative and the aesthetic; and perhaps more importantly the civic, the psychological and the spiritual. How may one incorporate these ideas in their work in such times of commodiﬁed culture? We had a fantastic group of faculty and speakers to show and illustrate for us the extensive task of architecture.

Top - Manikganj District Landuse Plan, 1980-2000 Opposite Page - Giambatista Nolli’s Map of Rome; Source: UC Berkeley Library (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu)

The October-November Session proudly presented the involvement of master Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi along with the much admired Finnish architect and writer Juhani Pallasmaa. A special public symposium was organised to relish the thoughts of the two virtuosos of architecture. The inﬂuential urban thinker

and architecture critic Peter Buchanan conducted an extensive workshop on urban design. Abed Chaudhury, Saif Ul Haque, Syed Manzoorul Islam, Atiqur Rahman and Samiya Selim completed our fabulous line-up of faculty. Sharing their expertise on sustainability, ecology and climate change, Samiya Selim and Atiqur Rahman demonstrated how the environment is interlocked with our lives and consequently architecture. Syed Manzoorul Islam invoked the hearts of Dhaka dwellers and called for a bid to improve the city. He asked them to probe the state of Dhaka and resolve what they deem necessary to make a city livable. Abed Chaudhury brought his expertise in the ﬁeld of genetics to explain the evolution of the human mind. His ideas of embodiment and learning offered valuable insight into the human perception and our ability to learn.

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Designing for Small Towns Top - Sketch from participants of the workshop “Designing for Small Towns,” Farah Jalil, Zarrin Tasneem and Nuha Annoor Pabony Opposite Page, Top - Trip to Manikganj with Peter Buchanan and Saif Ul Haque for the workshop “Designing for Small Towns” Bottom Left and Right - Studio Review for the workshop “Designing for Small Towns.”

A workshop on urban design of small towns was conducted by Peter Buchanan and Saif Ul Haque. To understand the parameters of a small town, several lectures, a trip to Manikganj and studio work were organised. It was mentioned during the lectures that urban design and architecture vary in several ways. The turning point for urban design, in Peter Buchanan’s opinion, was in 1950s at Harvard University and it was focused on the urban centre of the city. Buchanan carried on the discussion around several ideas. Architecture, landscape design and urban design are seen as three separate elements and sustainability is where all three integrate. Sustainability is a happy city and happy citizens. So quality of life must be improved for Dhaka to recover from its current situation. Dhaka's neighbouring cities may hold the key to achieve this. A town can take off by intensifying what it already has; or through the injection of proper schemes. Urban designers must understand the movement, structure, land use and how to merge these aspects. He ﬁnds that confrontation and grittiness are important qualities and must be used in the face of convenience, which has many downsides. Urban design should not just be about creating framework which will guide the development of a city, over a long time but also about how it makes the city fully humane. One downside of the modern movement was that it reinforced the idea of looking at functions of a space in a mechanistic way. Cities should not be just functional spaces, but it should also help one become who they could be. The key idea behind sustainability is not just about energy efﬁciency, it is also about how well one connects with those around them. An urban designer should think like a doctor; think of a city to be as complex a system as the human body. Architecture should be about how to

make good cities, not just about how to make good buildings. The skill of an urban designer is to shape a public realm that provides spaces for various different activities. Good cities must have a memorable configuration, a strong image quality in terms of movement system. To better understand the architecture of cities, a trip to Manikganj was organised with the participants, Peter Buchanan and Saif Ul Haque to assess the town for its issues, utility and potential. Various ecologically, culturally and economically significant sites were visited. This included the riverfront, the primary canal, the marketplace and culturally significant remains of landlord’s houses. The analysis of the town would help gain valuable insights that could help improve the city. Participants were divided into groups and were assigned projects to make small towns more livable and help decentralise Dhaka. Manikganj was deemed the ideal location in which many ideas could be implemented. The studio urged participants to use the insight they had gained through their visit to Manikganj and to form ideas that would help improve the town. The ideas were presented in front of Peter Buchanan and other members of the faculty to shed light on the potential Manikganj had. It was an exercise meant to help the participants better understand Urban Design through a specific site.

City and Water Peter Buchanan According to Peter Buchanan, one must think about housing typology of small towns. Most people are concerned with the lifestyle of small towns rather than its environment. Furthermore, one must not just look at short term problems but at problems that may arise in the future too. One of the ways to raise a country's income is by increasing its quality of life. Dhaka is destroying its citizensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; quality of life. It is important that we address cultural and psychological issues as technical ones. One of the reasons progress in sustainability was made by treating it as an objective technical issue. Some of the most moving works in architecture are in Islamic culture which picked up many of the traditions of Roman culture. The bathhouse derived from the Roman baths, became the home which was very important in certain parts of the world. One must stop seeing water in isolation, and recognise the cultural and interplay potential of water. It wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be possible to solve things by looking at water as the enemy; instead we have to look at it as an ally.

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The Ironies and Contradictions City, Climate and Community of Cities From Left - Syed Manzoorul Islam, Samiya Selim and Atiq Rahman at Bengal Institute. Opposite Page - Peter Buchanan at his public lecture.

One of the ironies of western civilisation is that cities were built to bring people together but it is in a city that people are the loneliest. Dhaka city is constantly changing. According to Syed Manzoorul Islam, the biggest problem of the city is unlawful land acquisitions and the inability of the authorities to prevent it, which is causing the loss of water bodies and public spaces. Furthermore, there are virtually no playgrounds left for children to play in. One of the most important aspects of a city is the retaining of memories but Dhaka tends to erase all nostalgia. The city’s history, is being devalued as its heritage remains unprotected. A city should be able to cater to people with different tastes and cannot create sections between them. Dhaka is increasingly becoming a carceral, gated city. The idea of a 'home' has to be re-instilled. There are a few things that were surrendered in the march of urbanisation— courtyards, waste management, living in low rise buildings, relationship with water, nature and greenery, advice from senior citizens who could guide planners, festivities and family rituals, mobility and leisure. Modern urbanisation only encourages rush. Considering the enormous number of residents, there is a need for developing nearby towns; so essential facilities and mediums of opportunities are better distributed. This can alleviate some of the strain the massive population is putting on the city. Dhaka needs to be taken out of Dhaka. Acknowledging water's vital role in the city’s landscape by incorporating it to complement the urban environment is a crucial and overlooked step in Dhaka’s design. One must ponder, how can the city be connected with its surroundings? Dhaka needs to be thought of in its own context and sensibilities.

On the 8th of November, back to back seminars were organised involving prominent environmentalists Atiq Rahman and Samiya Selim, who shed light on the much discussed issue of global warming. Overwhelming evidence were presented by Atiq Rahman that showed the undeniable influence of human interference on global climatic change, while annotating the factors propagating this crisis. He illustrated not only the grim future complications of the issue, but how it is harming the livelihoods of people now. He explained in detail the components of human habitation influencing climate change. Atiq Rahman talked about his various works throughout his career involving climate change. He carried out numerous projects that investigated climate change and helped legitimise it as the critical global issue that it is. He was quick to point out the big contributors— the uncontrolled emission of carbon-dioxide, nitrous-oxide and fluorocarbons from various industries. He also identified the lesser known culprits like methane, which are produced in everyday life but are just as potent a factor as any other. The seminars outlined the economic damage dealt by climate change today. Both Atiq Rahman and Samiya Selim affirmed that there was a general lacking in the understanding of environmental assets, so she set forth explaining them in economic terms. She believes that while evaluating natural assets several critical aspects in value go overlooked. Considerations like the carbon sequestration and disaster mitigation are still not appraised. They both suggested that by increasing awareness of the indirect ways ecological assets contribute to the economy, it would be possible to encourage people to

conserve them. They were both critical of the lack of acceptance of global warming as a fact among world leaders and the general public, while emphasising the importance of proper awareness of the issue. Atiq Rahman proclaimed that only by confronting the facts and making the necessary sacriﬁces both in personal and policy levels, this issue will be resolved. Samiya Selim added that the introduction of carbon tax could be helpful in achieving this.

Top - Balkrishna Doshi (L) and Juhani Pallasmaa (R) speaking at the forum. Bottom - The audience listening intently to Balkrishna Doshi and Juhani Pallasmaa

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A Forum with Balkrishna Doshi and Juhani Pallasmaa at Bengal Institute It was a privilege for Bengal Institute to be able to bring two of the most eminent architects and thinkers of our time, Balkrishna Doshi and Juhani Pallasmaa, to join some public events with us. A discussion forum was hosted with them at Bengal Institute’s hallway which was moderated by Kazi Khaleed Ashraf. Kazi Ashraf invited Pallasmaa and Doshi to talk about their beginnings in architecture. Pallasmaa began by reminiscing on how his grandfather taught him with a contextual and exploratory educational approach— an approach he advocates for. He also revealed how Piero della Francesca was a grandfather ﬁgure to Tapio Wirkkala, who in turn along with Johannes Vermeer played the same role in his life. He put particular emphasis on the fact that Piero della Francesca had died 489 years before Wirkkala to explain that anyone can take up the mantle of the metaphorical grandfather. Drawing similarities, BV Doshi talked about his mentor Le Corbusier. John Dewey’s assertion that, “...art is only art when it is experienced as such…,” compelled Pallasmaa to conclude that architecture which is not poetic is just another construction. Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s observation that, “...one doesn’t merely see a work of art but the world through a work of art.” was cited to reinforce his point. Doshi added that architecture should be able to tell stories of the human experience. It should resemble the fascination Louis Kahn had for the tales of the Arabian Nights. In order to achieve this, Pallasmaa afﬁrmed, imagination was crucial. They both noted that it is the capacity of imagination that inspires creativity. According to Ludwig Wittgenstein, architecture and philosophy are both ways to edify oneself and develop oneself as a human being. Pallasmaa concluded that a wide variety of humanistic experiences are vital to learning the craft of architecture as humanistic experiences evoke the sense of self. Pallasmaa highlighted that there was no basis of thinking without embodiment and explained how externalising one’s innate sense of dwelling can produce the best designs.

BV Doshi presented several of his works, detailing how he approached each of his work in order to help the audience get a sense of how they themselves can design. Both Doshi and Pallasmaa encouraged the physical motions of learning and design through introspection. Doshi marked the importance of drawings while learning architecture and how they are embedded in the very spirit of design. He referred to Le Corbusier's tendency to draw when he tried to learn anything and Louis Kahn’s care while drawing as examples. Doshi explained how he saw the ability to acquire a sense of space and detail through practice as imperative to architecture. Pallasmaa weighed in by discussing sense, sensory systems and sensations to reveal the inﬂuences they had on architecture. In the second day of the seminars, Juhani Pallasmaa started by discussing how architecture was conceived and its core principles. It is his view that architecture stemmed from our need to relate ourselves with the world and give us an existential foothold. He added, one must follow the genetic sensibilities of aesthetics which have been shaped by eons of human evolution as their guide when they design. He believes it is these primal senses of shapes and arrangements that transcends language and speaks to everyone. BV Doshi continued on this point by stating it is the purpose of architecture to turn a shelter into a home. He described how he thought the practice of architecture took its shape and how archaeology was really the narration of architecture; a historical record of how cultures lived. It is also quite important that an architect embraces uncertainty. Both Doshi and Pallasmaa elaborated on this point with Pallasmaa proclaiming that certainty closes discussions and so uncertainty must be tolerated. He believes uncertainty to be the mother of beauty as the artist Joseph Brodsky had claimed. Referencing the Bhagavad Gita, Doshi implied that there is beauty to be experienced in the upheaval in crowded cities that stemmed from uncertainty. BV Doshi then outlined his view on the learning process. He shared a personal

interaction he had with a scientist to establish the importance of physical motions of the body in the learning process as they help to internalise concepts. He suggested that in order to design, one must place oneself in the landscape and in the design to really grasp its significance. He and Pallasmaa are both of the opinion that the best way to learn is through practical embodied experiences. Pallasmaa added that it is through internalisation of ideas that one can produce good work. He maintains that developing the culture of architecture is more important than individual achievements and is concerned how the homogenisation of thought in architecture is hindering its progress. He encouraged diversity of ideas triggered by interests in various other fields, arts and crafts to promote development in the culture. He suggested having friends from these other disciplines, which would make it easier to find out more about them and create more cohesive experiences of architecture. Doshi then expressed how significant travelling was to understand not only architecture but the human experience itself. He urged everyone to let their curiosity guide them to find out their preferences and to contemplate why they prefer these things. According to him, it is by understanding one’s own senses that one can create something to engage others.

Doshi / Pallasmaa Two Talks and a Conversation ব ল ফাউে ডশন এবং ব ল ইনি িটউেটর উেদ ােগ িবিশ ভারতীয় পিত বালকৃ দািশ ও িফিনশ পিত ইউহািন পালাজমার কেথাপকেথান িনেয় আেয়ািজত হেয়িছল ি তীয় াপত িসে ািজয়াম। বাংলােদশ কৃিষিবদ ইনি িটউশন িমলনায়তেন আেয়ািজত এই অ ােন এক হাজােররও বিশ দশক অংশ হন কেরন। ব ল ফাউে ডশেনর মহাপিরচালক লুভা নািহদ চৗধুরীর ব ব িদেয় অ ােনর হয়।

The Second Bengal Architecture Symposium was organised by Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements and Bengal Foundation to honour the works and philosophies of two renowned architects, Balkrishna Doshi and Juhani Pallasmaa. The event took place at Krishibid Institution, Bangladesh (KIB) Auditorium on 15th November, Tuesday, 2016. Over 1200 people were in the audience, which included architecture students, professionals, academics and other inﬂuential ﬁgures.

Scan for full videos of the symposium.

Opposite Page; Left - Balkrishna Doshi Right - Juhani Pallasmaa

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থম ব া িছেলন িবিশ ভারতীয় পিত বালকৃ দািশ। নদী কীভােব ভূিমিব াস-এর সােথ িমেল যায়, তার গিতপথ, তার অ ভুিতর কথা উে খ কের িতিন মা েষর মেনর িজ াসার কথা বেলন। “আিম িক, আিম িক করিছ?” – াপত চচা করেত হেলও এই ে র স ুখীন হেত হয়। িতিন িল কবুিজয়ােরর সােথ কাজ করেত িগেয় তার অিভ তার িভি েত িকভােব াপত িশ া লাভ কেরেছন তার বণনা এবং ব ি গত াপত চচার পথচলার নানা িবষয় তুেল ধেরন। াপত কমন হেত পাের স ব াপাের বলেত িগেয় িতিন বাস ােনর ব াপাের মা েষর আরাম, জায়গার ব বহার, আেলা বাতােসর চলাচেলর কথা বেলন। িতিন বেলন ান হেলা াণব ব াপার। তার মেত, এক জায়গােক নানািবধ ব বহােরর মাধ েম সটােক আেরা অথবহ কের তালা যায়। সই সােথ কৃিতর সােথ যাগােযােগর কথাও বেলন দািশ। চরকার উে খ কের িতিন বেলন াপত চচােক দনি ন জীবেনর সােথ স িতপূণ হওয়ার কথা। সমােজ পিতর ভূিমকা উে খ করেত িগেয় িতিন সমােজর ছাট, বড় নানা পযােয়, গৃহহীন থেক কের নানা পশা ও আেয়র মা েষর জ কাজ করার কথা বেলন। িতিন াপত েক জিবক িব ােসর সােথ তুলনা কেরন। পিতর কাজ কবল দালান

নকশার মেধ ই সীমাব না থেক সমােজর িব াস ও পুনিব ােসও ভুিমকা রাখেত পাের। ি তীয় ব া িছেলন িফিনশ পিত ও লখক ইউহািন পালাজমা, িযিন থেমই বেলন য িতিন িনেজেক াপেত র ত িবদ িহেসেব দািব করেত চাননা। ইউহািন পালাজমার মেত াপত হে জীবেনর কািরও ািফ। িকভােব জ িমিতক িব ােসর মেধ জীবেনর িব ৃিত ঘেট তা িনেয় বেলেছন। তাঁর িব াস পিতরা পেরা ভােব মা েষর মি ও অ ভূিত িনেয় কাজ কের। িব ানীরেদর মেত পিরেবশ ও পািরপাি কতা আমােদর ব বহাের ভীষনভােব ভাব ফেল। িতিন তার কােজ িপথােগারােসর অ পাত অ সরেনর কথা বেলেছন। াপেত র স কবল মা িনিদ কােজর মেধ ই সীমাব নয়, তা কান না কান ভােব অ ভূিত ও িনউরেনর সােথ যু । তাঁর মেত পিতরা এই অ ভূিত বাঝার চ া কের না। য কান দালানেকাঠা হল থমত মা েষর ক না। াপেত র মেধ ই ধরেনর ক নার কথা উে খ কেরন। এক ধরেনর ক না জ ািমিতক বা আকার আকৃিত িনেয়, আেরক ধরেনর ক না মা েষর অ ভূিত ও অিভ তা িনেয়।

26 27 Top - Sketch by Balkrishna Doshi Opposite Page, Top - Balkrishna Doshi and Bottom - Juhani Pallasmaa at KIB.

Using architecture as a tool to bridge the gap between communities The master Indian architect, Balkrishna Doshi, opened the lecture by expressing his gratitude and experience of visiting Dhaka. He talked about his experience of travelling all over the city of Dhaka and discovering its elements. He pointed out the similarities in vitality and energy between India and Bangladesh. Mentioning that he learnt the craft of architecture from Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, Doshi talked about his journey of negating, pursuing, understanding and analysing architecture. Doshi mentioned that the versatility of life in India needs to be acknowledged while practising architecture. He elaborated on the role of architecture with respect to social reconstruction. According to him, architecture must bridge the gap between communities and act as a connection between its people. In that context he added— the role of an architect must be similar to that of a social activist. He believes that, an

architect must create transformation, change and awareness. In short, the architect must be an active member of the society. Doshi mentioned the similarity between a human life and a river— identity of life can be compared to that of a river’s. Doshi also discussed some of his projects, namely the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, Kanoria Center for Arts in Kolkata and Sangath in Ahmedabad. According to him, architecture is the design of a total environment where the whole system becomes a living entity, which must not have a ﬁnite line. It should have diverse proportions according to its need. This to him is one of the primary targets of his practice. Types of Imagination Renowned Finnish architect and writer, Juhani Pallasmaa began his talk by sharing the view, that architecture is the choreography of life. There is interaction

and resonance of life within it. He feels that not enough architects understand atmospheres in our consciousness and imaginations. He argued that perceptions have a distinct imaginative component. Pallasmaa says that architecture is a combination of two realms— one which is a physical matter of execution and the other which is of mental imagery. According to him, buildings are products of execution of the mental imagery. Pallasmaa categorised imagination into two quantitative types: the formal imagination which is primarily engaged with topological facts, and the empathetic imagination which evokes multisensory, integrated, and lived experiences of the ﬂesh. According to him, artistic works are not symbols or metaphors for something else, they are authentic realities. All art exists in two realms simultaneously – one of physical matter and execution and another of mental imagery. He believes that even the art of poetry is engaged with the material world and the body.

28 29 Top - From left Juhani Pallasmaa, Kazi Khaleed Ashraf and Balkrishna Doshi having a conversation at KIB. Bottom Audiences at the symposium Opposite Page - Sketch by Juhani Pallasmaa

Doshi and Pallasmaa - A Conversation Pallasmaa and Doshi, both reﬂected on their visit to Parliament House earlier that morning. Doshi spoke about Louis Kahn’s drawing techniques while preparing design for the Parliament House. He mentioned that Kahn would touch the tracing paper with his charcoal very gently and felt that he, his mind and body were all connected to the drawing. So, it was a total bodily experience for him. The conversation continued with the interpretational and methodological processes involved with drawings. The architects discussed the challenges and distinction between use of charcoal and computational methods. Juhani Pallasmaa said that drawing is the process of bringing imagination to life. He said that today’s way of life makes use of technology in a way, that leads to loss of knowledge on environment.

Balkrishna Doshi mentioned that the nature and imagery of Dhaka city, has disappeared from our minds. He said that we do not know what to prioritise in life. Thus the city is losing its natural assets. He also reminisced about his experience of being in the Parliament House and shared his days of working in Louis Kahn’s ofﬁce when the plans for the building were being developed.

িসে ািজয়ােমর শষ অংেশ িছল আেলাচনা পব। এেত কাজী খািলদ আশরাফ, ইউহািন পালাজমা ও বালকৃ দািশ অংশ নন। আেলাচনা পেবর একিট মূল িবষয় িছল সৃজনশীল ক নায় কি উটার ও হােত আঁকার িচে র ব বহার িনেয়। দািশ বেলন য আমরা মা েষর মুহূেতর কথা ভািবনা। এবং বতমান নগের যানবাহন, মা েষর অ ভূিতর চেয় বশী জ রী হেয় উেঠেছ। িতনজন পিত আেরা আেলাচনা কেরন নগর পিরক না এবং নগর গঠেন পিতেদর ভূিমকা িনেয়।

30 31 Covers of Books by Juhani Pallasmaa

An Interplay of Thoughts and Forms Juhani Pallasmaa According to Juhani Pallasmaa, his writing is an extension of his work. He made references to works and ideas of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Maurice MerleauPonty and Jorge Luis Borges to reinforce his point and to show how experiences assemble the self. He extended on the ideas he expressed on earlier occasions about the bond of architecture with existentialism. He divulged his preference to work in themes and classiﬁed them into twelve different aspects: Continuous line - ‘Great artists like Matisse can draw, for instance, the female body with just one continuous line. I myself, in my work, almost always at some point, experiment something with lines.’ Pallasmaa expressed his disbelief at the banning of cursive writing in Finnish schools. To him it is an unnecessary hindrance to the bodily projection of the rhythmic exercise that is writing. Penetration - ‘Whenever you cut a hole through any surface, kind of an eye, an image begins to appear. For me, facades are always images, but also there is a lot of possibility of imagery in cutting through matter.’ He shared his personal experience of creating his father's grave marker during which he faced the issue of having to express both belief and disbelief in the marker, as his father was an atheist while many of the other family members were religious. By creating an absent cross as the marker he felt he was able to accommodate both the contrasting beliefs.

Circle, Arc - ‘I happened to visit the church at Quattro Fontane in Rome and I realised the power of ovals.’ Pallasmaa showed a few of his projects where he used arcs and circles. In addition, he shared some of his works that helped him realise the power of the arc and the signiﬁcance of circles. Joint - ‘Joint is unavoidable in an architect’s work. I make abstracted joints every now and then to experiment with the ideas.’ He recounted some stories of works with joints. He mentioned an exhibition of saunas next to Alvar Aalto's Villa Mairea. He went into particular detail about a story, which involves shooting bazookas into the ground to create holes with ceramic surrounded surface. He also talks about designing an urn for his brother-in-law. Touch - ‘For the last forty years, I have designed a special door handle for each one of my buildings because, in my way of thinking, the door handle is the handshake of a building, and it needs or at least it can express individuality.’ He described how he creates objects that are alluring to touch. Additionally, he mentioned how he shapes certain materials like door handles or furniture to make them tempting to touch. He shared his work on the animal architecture exhibition, at the Museum of Finnish Architecture —where he tried to evoke the feeling of walking through the wilderness by covering the ﬂoor with 4 inches of sand. This illustrated how powerful the sense of touch can be.

Continuous Line

Perforation Penetration

Circle Arc

Joint

Touch

Matter Colour

Image courtesy - Juhani Pallasmaa.

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Scale

Landscape

Stair

Column

Time

Sketch by - Juhani Pallasmaa.

34 35 Cover of Books by Juhani Pallasmaa

Matter, Colour - ‘I admire 2CVs (Citroen), colourful cars which were parked on the streets and I thought, why couldn’t houses have the same feeling that they are just parked on the site?’ His fascination with material and colour produced various diverse pieces of work. This included working with sculptor Rachel Whiteread on an international snow exhibition in Lapland; an exhibition on wood in Finnish culture; the Saame Lapp Museum in Lapland; underground bus terminal in Helsinki, a Marimekko shop, a courtyard in Central Helsinki, and an art museum in Lapland near the Arctic circle etc.

Sketch by - Juhani Pallasmaa.

Scale - ‘I believe that architects tend to think that the big scale is more important. For me at least, the small scale is not perhaps more important, but more pleasant, more demanding.’ He stressed on the importance of working on all scales. He explained that different scales pose different challenges and it is important as an architect to be able to tackle all of them. Light - ‘When I was a young architect, I didn't understand the qualitative aspect of light. I was concerned with the quantitative essence of light, but ever since, I have thought that light is the most subtle area of architectural expression. The only one which can express, for instance, sorrow and ecstasy; emotions that are extremely different.’ He shared his interpretations of light and his concepts on bringing the best out of it. He demonstrated the use of reﬂection in his works at the Saame Lapp Museum and his own library. Landscape - ‘I sketch almost always on my travels around the world and I can say that I remember every single spot which I have sketched. Whereas, I do not remember the places which I have photographed. Simply drawing is such a deep recording device. I suggest that you use less your camera and more your pencil.’

Sketch by - Juhani Pallasmaa.

He mentioned his work on the Saame Lapp Museum, where he designed the roof in such a manner that there is soft snowfall on the walls. He featured his work for a director of Nokia where he took precautions to protect the surrounding landscape during construction, an approach he encourages everyone to follow. Stairway - ‘I make stairway experiments while I make actual stairs. While designing this stairway in the Paris Institute, I was looking at the Hiroshige’s graphic work, the 52 stations, where there is the stairway and the legs of a man. That particular detail was my inspiration for the stairway.’ He acknowledged Escher as an inspiration for his work on stairs and how he presented one of his works on stairs as a gift to Glenn Murcutt. Columns - ‘So I wanted to make a motif and I selected six stones and the geologist identiﬁed where they come from, exactly the spot in Canada or Northern United States and the columns were then taken from there. At this point I had an idea or a feeling that this could be turned into somehow related with the universe and with the planetary system.’ Time - ‘I had tears in my eyes because I felt for a moment that this whole thing failed now, until I realised I had been given another gift. When this was given the proper patina, the answer unprecision turned into the death of the universe. Beautiful illustration of the universe.’ Pallasmaa talked about a device he had created exploiting the analemma, produced by the movement between the earth and the sun. A device that could tell time precisely and would always work. However, it does not go as planned but, instead of seeing that as a failure, he chose to see it as an actual representation of the uncertainty of the universe. In addition to these, he talked about saunas and the signiﬁcance they hold in scandinavian culture. He then answered various questions asked by the participants and the faculties present alike.

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The Obsessions in the Works of Lyndon Neri and Rosanna Hu Top - Images from the Waterhouse Boutique Hotel at Shanghai, Oposite Page; Top Waterhouse Boutique Hotel at Shanghai, Bottom - Sulwhasoo Flagship Store in Seoul C Neri & Hu

Bengal Institute invited Lyndon Neri and Rosanna Hu, founding partners of Neri & Hu, for the 19th Public Lecture. Their various works from across the globe were showcased. Neri and Hu outlined the creative processes and challenges involving these works, and admitted to having five obsessions that influence their works - voyeuristic gaze, blurring boundaries, objecthood, rebranding history and exhibiting cultural texture. Following these obsessions have led the duo to a plethora of awards and accolades. They admitted how the obsessions were not the only things motivating them, as their cultural background and upbringing also played a critical role. They revealed how they approach their work with the personality of their client in mind, illustrated in their work House for an Introvert and the House for an Extrovert. They explained their obsession with blurring boundaries using their work on the Cluny House in Singapore as an example. Neri described how they created a house that better utilises the available space by eliminating divisions between indoor and outdoor space to the furthest possible extent. Other works include Sulwhasoo Flagship Store in Seoul, Sentul Contemporary Art Museum in Kuala Lampur, Design Republic Commune in Shanghai, Le Meridien Zhengzhou, Camper Showroom/Office in Shanghai and their first real project The Vertical Lane House in Shanghai.

Rosanna Hu remarked on the power of architecture to create identity and culture, and how her own struggles with identity and the conclusions reached through them governed her architecture. She accentuated the importance of discovering and owning up to one’s own identity, whatever that may be, and to let it translate into their designs. They reflected on the current climate of urban development in China and how it disregards memory and historical significance. New projects in cities like Shanghai, rummage through their spiritual fabric. According to them, their perceived style was a result of their resolve to salvage old significant buildings in Shanghai to preserve the city’s identity. With Antoine de SaintExupery’s words, “We do not aspire to be eternal beings. We only ask that things do not lose all their meaning,” they expressed precisely what the drive behind their work is.

38 39 Books by Andreas Ruby and others.

Architecture and Identity: Strategies of Transformation Andreas Ruby Andreas Ruby is the Director of Swiss Architecture Museum, and an architectural critic and theorist. He was an editor of the architectural journal Daidalos from 1999 to 200. In 2001, Andreas and Ilka Ruby setup the agency Textbild as a production facility for publishing architectural books, magazines, and essays; curating exhibitions; and consulting architects. Andreas Ruby has taught architectural theory and design at the University of Kassel, Cornell University and the Ecole Polytechnique Féderale in Lausanne. He is currently teaching the Metropolis program at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona. He co-founded the Ruby Press a publishing house specialising on architecture and urbanism. He charmed his audience with his take on the poetic transformations possible through architecture. He feels transformation of buildings, is no different to the transformations in a person— it is only a matter of observation. He talked

about the history of various buildings including the German Parliament and Diocletian’s Palace in Split. He also outlined the transformations they went through and their signiﬁcance. Quoting Samuel Becket, ‘To have been always what I am - and so different from what I was,’ Andreas Ruby asked if it was possible to change in a way we do not lose ourselves. Using a few examples in ﬁlm, innovative buildings and music, he challenged our perceptions of change, and asked to re-evaluate them.

Research and Design

Photograph of pavilion for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Agamir Sylhetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; exhibition at Bengal Sanskriti Utsob, Sylhet. Exhibition pavilion designed by Salauddin Ahmed and Kazi Khaleed Ashraf.

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Redesigning Sylhet ব ল ইনি িটউেটর নানান গেবষণামূলক কােজর মেধ ছাট শহর িনেয় গেবষণা অ তম। ঢাকার বাইেরর শহর েলা কমন, িক আেছ বা নই, কন মা ষ ধু ছুেট আেস রাজধানীর পােন, িক হেল ঐ শহের বসবাস আেরকটু গাছােনা হেতা, এমনই হাজােরা িচ া। এরই ধারাবািহকতায় িসেলট িসিট কেপােরশেনর আম েণ শহেরর পূণ এবং ঐিতহািসক ানসমূহ পযেব ণ কের একিট পিরক না ণয়ন করা হয়। আর িসেলট িনেয় এইসব ভাবনািচ া শহরবািসর কােছ পৗঁেছ দবার য়ােস িসেলেটর মািছমপুের অবি ত আবুল মাল আ ুল মুিহত ীড়া কমে ে গত ২২েশ ফ য়াির থেক ৩রা মাচ ২০১৭ পয আেয়াজন করা হয় "আগামীর িসেলট" শীষক দশনীর। পিত সালাউি ন আহেমেদর িডজাইন এবং িনেদশনায় অিভনব এক বাঁেশর কাঠােমােত বড় বড় ব ানার, ফ ুন, মেডল িদেয় উপ াপন করা হয় এক নতুন নাগিরক ক না। নগর কে র পুরেনা ও িবদ মান পিরি িতেক সে িনেয় িকভােব িনেজেদর শহরটােক সাজােনা গাছােনা যায়, তার িত প দখেত িতিদন িভড় কেরিছল হাজােরা মা ষ। ছাট-বড় সবার আন করার, িচ ার খারাক জাগােনার জ এ িছল এক অিন গ ব । িসেলট এেকবাের ছাট শহর নয়। িসেলট ঢাকার মেতাও নয়। িসেলট শহেরর আেছ িনজ বিশ । িসেলট হাক িসেলেটর মেতা। িসেলট আেরা বিশ িসেলট হেয় উঠুক। িসেলট শহর ও অ ল ইিতহােসর ব ধারায় উৎকিষত। হাওড়-বাওড়, নদী-ছড়া, পাহাড়-িটলা িনেয় সমৃ াকৃিতক পিরেবশ। িসেলেটর অথনীিত গিতশীল। সং ৃিত আ িলকভােব ঐ যমি ত, আবার ইংল াে ডর মা া যাগ িদেল আ জািতক। িসেলট শহেরর বািড়ঘর ও পাড়া-পিরেবেশর অব া এখেনা অ পম। সব িমেল িসেলট অন । িসেলট শহেরর অন ও িন পম অব া ধের রাখা এবং আেরা সমৃ করার জ েয়াজন একিট নতুন নাগিরক ক না ও ভাবনা-িচ । াকৃিতক ানসমূহ, চা-বাগান, আউিলয়ােদর মাজার, ইংল াে ডর সােথ িনিবড় স ক, সব িমিলেয় িসেলট পযটক ও মণকারীেদর গ ব ান। িসেলট শহর হেত পাের এই পিরম েলর আেরা গাছােনা ক িব । ানীয়, আ িলক, এমনিক একিট আ জািতক িবিশ েপর জ িসেলট অনবদ । এটাই িসেলট শহেরর গিরমা। িসেলট শহেরর " েবশ ার" বেল খ াত িকন ি জ রমা নদীর উপর ািপত একিট ধাতব সতু। তৎকালীন আসাম েদেশর গভণর মাইেকল িকন এর নামা সাের ি জিটর নামকরণ করা হয়। আসােমর সােথ রল যাগােযােগর জ রলওেয় িবভাগ ১৯৩৩ সােল রমা নদীর ওপর ি জ িনমােণর উেদ াগ নয় এবং িনমাণ শেষ ১৯৩৬ সােল ি জিট জনসাধারেণর জ খুেল দওয়া হয়। সই থেক এিট িসেলেটর অ তম দশনীয় এবং ঐিতহািসক িনদশন িহসােব সবার কােছ পিরিচত।

আসেল িকন ি জ তিরর আেগ িসেলট শহেরর বৃি িছল কবলমা উ রমুখী। ি জ তিরর পের শহর দি েণও বাড়েত থােক। এে ে ধান ভূিমকা পালন কের িসেলট রলে শন ও বাসে শন। মূল শহর ক থেক দূের, নদীর অপর পাের এই অবকাঠােমা ািপত হবার পর পরই গেড় উেঠ বসিত। জীবন যা ার অ ষ জাগান িদেত বেস যায় দাকানপাট, বাজার-ঘাট। ছড়া-নদীর জেলর জার াকৃিতক পিরবতেনর ফল িতেত বরফগলা াত অথবা পাহাড়ী িগিরখাত থেক সৃি হেয় য জলধারা সমুে িমলায় তার নাম নদী; আর য নদী তার চেয়ও বড় কান নদীেত িগেয় পেড়েছ তােক বেল উপনদী, আর যিদ বড় নদী থেক উৎপ হয় তাহেল শাখা নদী। সই িহেসেব িসেলট জলার বরাক বা িশয়ারা, রমা, ম , িপয়াইন, বৗলাই সব কিট নদীই উপনদী বা শাখা নদী। এই পাহাড় থেকই িনঃসৃত অেপ াকৃত ীণকায় াতধারােক ইংেরিজেত বেল ' ক', আর বাংলায় বেল ছড়া। িসেলট িসিট কেপােরশেনর মেত শহেরর মধ িদেয় বাহমান ছড়া মাট ১১িট; যমনঃ গায়ািল ছড়া, বড় ছড়া, পালিক ছড়া। আেছ অসংখ হাওড়, ঝণাধারা। দেশর সববৃহৎ হাওড় হাকালুিক হাওরেড়র নাম শােনিন এমন মা ষ খুঁেজ পাওয়া িবরল। মৗ েম েপয় পািনর জ িছল বশ িকছু পু র, দীিঘ। িক অপিরকি ত ভােব জলাভূিম ভরাট, িনিবচাের াপনা িনমাণ এবং দূষেণর ফেল ভীষণ িবপদ , িবষ এই সব জলাধার। দশনীর একিট িবেশষ অংশ িছল িতিনয়ত বদেল যাওয়া এই জলাভূিম। িবষাদা জল ও মািটর নমুনা তুেল আনা হেয়িছল ৭৭িট জাের ভের। কােচর জাের সাির বেধ দাঁিড়েয় আেছ যন িতবাদী জল। কনেভনশন স টার ও আট ক া াস িসেলেটর াকৃিতক ও ঐিতহািসক ঘটনা ছাড়াও নতুন ধরেনর াপনা িনমাণ নতুন ঘটনার তির করেব। একিট কনেভনশন স টার এে ে হেত পাের মূল ভাবক। হেব নানান সংখ ক মা েষর সভা, ছাটবড় জটলা, দশনী ও িবিভ অ ােন ব মা েষর িমলন ল। সবুজ গােছর সািরর িপছেন ঘােস আবৃত বাঁকােনা ছােদর এই াপনা যন ানীয় ভূ কৃিতর িত প। কনেভনশন স টােরর পােশ থাকেব আট ক া াস; যখােন িশ -েচতনার চচা এবং দশনী হেব। সব ই খালােমলা চ র, হঁেট-ঘুের বড়াবার পিরেবশ। নদীর পােড় নতুন কের সাজােনা দাকানসাির উ ের নদীর পাড় ধের য রা াটা কািজর বাজার ি েজর িদেক চেল গেছ, সখােন বতমােন আেছ সািরবাঁধা দাকানপাট। কােঠর ও কােঠর কপােট তির পুরেনা আদেলর এই দাকান েলা শহরেক একিট িভ চির ও আেমজ দয়। একিট

বড় সম া হেলা, দাকান েলা নদীর পাড় ধের লাইন কের সাজাবার জ , রা া থেক শহেরর সে নদীর স ক িবি । তাছাড়া এই াপনা েলা নদীর িদেক িপছন িফের থাকায় নদীিবমুখ হেয় আেছ।এই এলাকায় আমরা একিট বািড়র ধরন হণ কেরিছ য েলা সাজােনা হেব রা া থেক নদীর িদেক মুখ কের। একটা বািড় থেক অ বািড়র মধ কার জায়গা থাকার কারেণ রমা নদী রা া থেক কাশ পােব। মাঝখােনর জায়গা েলােত হেব বসার এবং জটলা করার ব ব া। দাতলা এই বািড় েলার িনচতলায় থাকেব পুনবািসত পুরেনা দাকান এবং নতুন দাকানসমূহ। ওপের ছাট অিফস ও ক ােফ-ের রাঁ। িশ েদর পাক পুেরা শহর ঘুেরও ধু িশ েদর জ কােনা জায়গা খুঁেজ পাওয়া মুশিকল। ুল আর কািচংেয়র ফাঁেক, ছুিটর িদেন, কাথাও িনেয় ভােলা কের বড়ােনার উপায় নই। পুরাতন রলওেয়র দামঘর, শন, রললাইন এবং এর অ বতী খালা জায়গা েলােক ব বহার আর সমি ত কের বা ােদর জ অিভনব একিট পাক গেড় তালা যায়। একপােশ বা ােদর খলার জায়গা, আেরক পােশ নদী। মাঝখােন একিট বড় প ািভিলয়ন; বাঁেশর হা া কাঠােমার ওপর দাঁিড়েয় থাকা চািলব েরর কথা মেন কিরেয় দয়। একা একটু শা সময় কাটােনা অথবা দলেবঁেধ হৈচ, েয়াজেন বদেল যােব আেয়াজন। উ র পােড়র স াবনার িচ িকন ি েজর উ র-পি েম অবি ত আিল আমজােদর ঘিড়, িবদ মান নাট শালা এবং আেশপােশর বািড়ঘর িমেল নতুন এক াণব াজা, যার নাম হেত পাের উ র চ র। জায়গাটা এখনই শহেরর জ বিশ পূণ। নদীর ধাের র বাঁধােনা পথ, পথচারীেদর বসবার ান, নতুন নাট শালা িমেল পুেরা জায়গাটা হেত পাের আেরা আকষণীয় ান। এমন হেত পাের, নতুন একিট িথেয়টার-িমলনয়াতন তির কের এই চ রিট হেব

সাং ৃিতকেক । পুেরা চ র পদচারেণর জ , যটা িনরবি ভােব উ ের চেল যােব িকন ি জ ধের, আর নদীর পাড় ধের পি ম িদেক। নতুন িমিন চ র নদীর পাড় বরাবর বড় রা া থেক িকছু ভতের হঁেট গেলই দখা যায় আেগকার, এেকবাের ইংেরজ আমেলর অেনক ঘরবািড় । অথবা সই বািড় েলার আদেল বাংেলা ধরেনর বািড়ঘর। এক একিট বািড় এক এক রকম, িভ িভ ছােদর আকার। আবার কােনাটা িবেশষ কােজর জ । যমন- িফলে শন ঘর, পািনর ট া ইত ািদ। তেব সব বািড়ই বহন করেছ একিট বিশ পূণ াপত ৈশলী। আবার সব বািড়ই কােনা না কােনা সরকাির সং ার অধীেন। বাছাই করা এ বািড় েলােক িনেয় নতুন মােনর ক া াস রচনা করা যায়। বািড়ঘরেক সামা পিরবতন কের আেরা িকছু নতুন বািড় তির কের পযটেকর থাকা এবং আপ ায়েনর পিরপািট ব ব া করা যায়। িনচতলায় খালােমলা এইসব কাঠােমার কােনাটা হেব আট বা াফট গ ালাির, কােনাটা হেব আঁিকেয়েদর ুিডও আর কােনাটা দশনীেক । আবার কােনাটা আেগর দাকানপােটর নতুন ব ব া। জল কমে শহেরর পুরেনা জল কমে একটা দা ণ স াবনা। অ ানা িরত হওয়ার পর পুরেনা জল পা িরত হেয় সৃ হেব একটা াণব পাবিলক স, হঁেটেবড়ােনার পিরেবশ। নতুন পা ের থাকেছ পাক, িদিঘ, বাগান, িথেয়টার কমে । পুরেনা বািড় েলােক রেখ সখােন িতি ত হেত পাের গােনর ও িচ কলার ুল। জেলর পুরেনা দালান েলােক পুনবাসন তির কের হেত পাের জাতীয় মােনর জা ঘর।

44 45 Landscape Design for a campus outside Dhaka (ongoing).

46 47

Decentering Dhaka:

The ‘Dhaka Nexus’ Project

Between 2003 and 2016, there is a huge decline in agricultural land by 23%.

Between 2016, there is an increase in Forest and Rural Settlements.

Excerpts from an ongoing research project Urbanisation is an integral part of the process of economic growth. Dhaka City, Bangladesh has expanded rapidly in the last few decades and is continuing to experience a massive growth in population as increasing numbers of people migrate to the city in search of economic opportunities. As a result of swift increase of rural to urban migration, geographical boost of urban territory and natural growth of population in urban settlements, rapid urbanisation has been inevitable in Dhaka. Dhaka is one of the fastest growing megacities in the world, with around 300,000 to 400,000 new, mainly poor migrants, arriving to the city annually. At present, migration, booming populations and globalised trade are forces that are powerfully concentrated in Dhaka City. Due to such unexpected circumstances, the capacity of urban settlements to provide basic civic needs of growth is tremendously challenged. The

inadequacies of existing urban infrastructures and the inefficient environment management are leading to severe environmental pollution and a degradation of standard of livings, health and well being. In order to attempt at offering solutions to Dhaka’s rampant growth, incoherent development, increasing traffic, inadequate housing conditions, poor distribution of services , public open space and employment functions, it is critical to think at the larger scale- the regional scale of Dhaka and its relationship with surrounding towns and urban areas. Regional planning in Dhaka will help reduce the conflicts and competition for resources between cities in a region. Environment and Climate Bangladesh depends heavily on its environment: Forests, grasslands, rivers,

48 49

50 51 Historical timeline of Dhaka Nexus

lakes and other ecosystems offer essential resources that provide food, water, shelter and energy. However, with rapid urbanisation and unplanned development, these ecosystems and resources are under incredible pressure. A close look at the existing climatic and environmental conditions and continuing development trends of the Dhaka Nexus region is being taken. Areas that should be protected, areas where development should be encouraged and overall, how communities can better manage and beneﬁt from their natural resources in the future are being worked out. People The current demographic trends and the impacts of urbanisation on demographic shifts in the Dhaka Nexus region are being scrutinised. This could help towns and communities better allocate resources and ensure that their lifestyle is sustainable.

History, Heritage and Culture The history, heritage and culture across the region are being thoroughly studied. The region’s connection with its communities should be an intrinsic link to its identity. Through intricate understanding of history, heritage, and present culture, Bengal Institute aims for regional planning to establish a lasting legacy of opportunity and experience. Movement System Various modes of transport in Dhaka Nexus-Anchol region were looked at along with their current transport system. The current impacts of different combinations of measures on mobility and trends in transport are being identiﬁed. Land Use With mass urbanization in Dhaka city, more and more people from rural areas are moving increasingly to the city,

which has a huge impact on current land use. The current land-use pattern in the Dhaka Nexus-Anchol Region were investigated to better understand how land is currently being arranged and changing shape over time. Settlement and Urban Features Settlements come in all different shapes, sizes and locations. After looking at the shape, size, site and situation of different settlements, the current settlement patterns, the function of different settlements were identiﬁed. Economy and Development Dhaka Nexus region’s current economic conditions and development projects were put under the microscope. This helped identify strategies on how to promote the development of a diversiﬁed and regionally focused economy.

(Left) Dutch V.O.C. factory in Hoegly (Hugli-Chuchura, Ben… burgh, 1665

( ) Part of a Dutch map showing Dhaka and environs, including Keraniganj (“Carannigons”) and “Damerah” (Demra?), c. 18th century (National Archives, The Hague: Vosmaer family map collection (access code 4.VMF), inv. no. 848, plate 36, f. 46)

ঢাকায় ওল াজরা িবেদশী বিণকেদর কােছ ভারত সবসময়ই িছল বািণজ গতুল , লাভনীয় সব পণ িবেশষ কের কাচামাল ও মশলার সহজলভ তা ও াচুেয র নাম িছল িবিদত। স লােভই আরব-ইরানীতুিক-িচনা বিণেকর পাশাপািশ প দশ দশেকর শেষ থম ইউেরাপীয় বিণক পতুগীজরা এেস হািজর হয়। তারও ায় একশ বছেরও বিশ পের আেস ডাচ বা ওল াজরা(Hollandia>ওল াজ)। ১৬০২ সােল িকছু ডাচ ব বসায়ী িবে র পূব াে ব বসার লে গঠন কেরন ডাচ ই ইি ডয়া কা ািন। (Dutch: Vereenigde OostIndische Compagnie, VOC, ‘United East India Company’ in English.) (িবলুি ঃ ১৭৯৯ সােল) অ কিদেনর মেধ ই ডাচরা এিশয়ার নানা াে ও দি ণ আি কায় ছিড়েয় পেড়। ১৬০৭ সােল তারা থম বাঙলায় পৗছায়, তেব মাঘল বাদােরর থেক ফরমান িনেয় তারা গিলর িচন রায় বািণজ ক াপন কের ১৬৩৫ সােল। মূলত ১৬২৭ সােল কেরাম েলর (বতমান দি ণ ভারেতর কণাটক) ডাচ গভনর বাঙলায় একিট বািণজ েক াপেনর জে িকছু লাক রণ কেরন। অব এর আেগও, ১৬২০-এর দশেক, পতুগীজেদর সােথ ডাচরাও চ াম উপ েল দাস ব বসা করেতা (হয়েতা অৈবধভােবই)। এরপের তারা েম েম আেরা িঠ াপন কের বাঙলায়, এর মেধ একিট িছল ঢাকায়। ঢাকায় তােদর থম আগমন ঘেট ১৬৩৬-এ, তেব সিট কান খকর অিভ তা িছল না। ছয় জন ডােচর, গিল থেক ঢাকায় একিট টৈনিতক িমশেন আসবার কথা িছল।িক গিল থেক রওনা দয়ার আেগই ানীয় কতৃপে র সােথ তােদর কান িবষেয় বাদা বাদ হওয়ায় তােদর বি করা হয় এবং তারা হাতকড়া পড়া অব ায় ঢাকা এেস পৗছান। ঢাকায় নবােবর দরবাের উপেঢৗকেনর িবিনমেয় তােদর মুি মেল, তেব তােদর খরচ পেড় যায় চুর। তােদর গিল থেক ঢাকা আসার খরচ িদেত হয়, সােথ কামােরর পাির িমক

(হাতকড়া ভা ার জে )। হােরর ফেল তারা আহতও হেয়িছেলন, তােদর সািরেয় তালার জে ডা ােরর িফ, এমনিক গিল িফের যাবার জে নৗকা েয়র খরচ ও বার জন দাড়বাহেকর মজুরীও ব য় করা লােগ। স সমেয়ই নািক তােদর হাজার টাকার উপের ন হেয়িছল, যা স যুেগর িহেসেব িবরাট অে র খরচ। তেব তারা নবােবর সােথ একিট বািণজ চুি করেত সমথ হন। তাই বেল ১৬৩৬ থেকই ঢাকায় তােদর অব ান পাকােপা হয় িন, ১৬৬৬ সােল তারা আবার চ া কের ঢাকায় একিট বািণজ অিফস াপেনর। ১৬৭৬ সােল তারা নবােবর দরবােরর রােজ লাল নােম এক উ পদ কমচারীেক ধের বািণজ পিরি িত তােদর অ েল আনবার চ া কের। িনেজেদর বািণজ িঠেত গ ারাম নােম এক বাংলাভাষী সহকারীেকও তারা িনেয়াগ দয়। তারা অব পূববতী িত অিভ তার ফেল, এেদর ইজেনর কাউেকই িব াস করেতা না। যা হাক ঢাকায় ১৬৬০ থেক েম েম ওল াজ িঠ, অিফস ও বাগান ািপত হয় এবং ১৭৮৫ পয তােদর কায ম চেল। ঢাকায় ওল াজেদর িঠ িছেলা বতমান িমটেফাড হাসপাতাল া েণ, নদীর তীের। সটাই অিফস িহেসেব ব ব ত হেতা। এছাড়াও তােদর বাগান িছল বতমান ফামেগট এলাকায় (আন িসেনমা হল ও তজতুরী বাজােরর মধ বতী এলাকায়)। তােদর এ অব ান ১৭৮০ সােলর রেনেলর ঢাকার ম াপ থেক পাওয়া যায়। ঢাকার সকল কােজর ত াবধান করেতা গলীর িচন রার বািণজ েক িট। আর গলীর িচন রার িঠিট থেম কেরাম েলর অধীেন িছেলা, আর ডাচ ই ইি ডয়া কা ািনর দি ণ-পূব এিশয়ার ধানেক িট িছল বাটািভয়ােত, জাকাতায় (বতমান ইে ােনিশয়া)। বাংলার ব বসা বহ হেয় ওঠায় গলীর িচন রা িঠিট ১৬৫৫ থেক কেরাম েলর অধীেন না থেক সরাসির বাটািভয়ার ত াবধােন চেল আেস।

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ঢাকার হেরক নােমর ান ঢাকার আ ািনকভােব সই ১৬১০ (মতা ের ১৬০৮), মাঘলেদর হােত। বাংলা যেহতু সীমা বতী েদশ তাই এ অ ল িছল সবসময়ই িবে াহী, অিধকাংশ সময় ায় াধীন। এ কারেণ নানা ঝড়-ঝাপটা, উথানপতেনর মেধ িদেয় িগেয়েছ এ নগরী, বার বার পেয়েছ ও হািরেয়েছ রাজধানীর স ান। সামিরক ছাউিন বা সা ােজ র শষ সীমানায় িতেরাধ ক থেক কখেনা পিরণত হেয়েছ নদীমাতৃক ব রেশািভত বািনজ নগরীেত। এত পট ও পালাবদেলর খলায় ঢাকায় সমাগম হেয়িছেলা নানা জােতর, নানা দেশর নানান িকিসেমর মা েষর, সামিরক ও বািনিজ ক উে ে । একািধক শাসেনর অধীেন, নানান সমেয়, নানা কমজীবীর কেম বা বসিতর নােম িবিভ ভাষায়, নাম হেয়েছ পুরেনা ঢাকার িবিভ ােনর। তার থেকই অ কেয়কিট িনেয় এ লখার অবতারণা। গজমহাল ঢাকায় িপলখানা িছল, এিলফ া ট রাড িছল, আর িছল হািত। ধু ি পুরা, আসাম না, বৃহ র ঢাকা জলাও িবখ াত িছল হািত ধরা ও খদার জে । তেব ইংেরজ আমেলর মাঝামািঝ এেস শহর বাড়ার সােথ সােথ, ঢাকার আেশপােশ হািতর সংখ া কমেত থােক। ঢাকার িপলখানার হািতর গাসেলর জে রমনায় জলাশয় বরা করা হয়, আর হািতরা য পেথ যাতায়াত করেতা, তার নাম হেয় যায় এিলফ া ট রাড। িক এর বাইেরও নদীেত িনেয় হািতেক গাসল করােনার জে আেরকিট মহালও বরা িছল, যার নাম হািতর নােমই হেয়িছেলা গজমহাল। অব নদী তখন বেয় যত আেরা শহর ঘেষ, এবং জায়গািট িছল জলা। আিজমুশশান উে খ কেরেছন নবাবগে িছল জায়গািট। ঢাকার মৗজা ম াপ থেক দখা যায়, বতমান ট ানাির মাড় ও টািল অিফস এলাকা থেক একটু িপছেন নদীর সােথই িছল গজমহাল। কােরা কােরা মেত, মাঘল আমেল িপলখানা িছল বতমান িপলখানা এলাকার আেরা উ ের, সে ে াচীন িপলখানার হািত গাসেলর ানই হয়েতা িছল গজমহাল। াচীন িপলখানার অি অব এখন আর কাথাও খুেজ পাওয়া যায় না। িডি লাির রাড ঢাকার ধূপেখালা এলাকায় বশ ল া একিট রা ার নাম িডি লাির রাড। সখােন ইংেরজ আমেল আসেলই ািপত হেয়িছেলা একিট সরকাির

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NEWS

Swiss Architecture Museum at Basel, Switzerland

Launch of ‘Locations’ Bengal Foundation and Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements announced the publication of the ﬁrst volume of a series ‘LOCATIONS: Anthology of Architecture and Urbanism.’ The book launch program took place on Wednesday, 25 January, 2017 at the Edge Gallery, at Gulshan 2. The publication, is being distributed worldwide, is a collaboration between ORO Editions in San Francisco, a prominent publisher of architecture and design books in the USA, and Bengal Foundation, a major publishing house with books on art, architecture and literature. Kazi Khaleed Ashraf is the editor of ‘LOCATIONS: Anthology of Architecture and Urbanism.’ Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, the ambassador of the United States to Bangladesh, graced the occasion as Chief Guest. Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, was the Special Guest at the event. ‘Locations’ is available in the following outlets: 1. Sagar Publishers - Baily Road 2. Amir & Sons - Paltan 3. Sandhi Path - Aziz Super Market 4. Bidhito - Aziz Super Market 5. Pathsala - Aziz Super Market 6. Texila - Aziz Super Market 7. Bengal Gallery - Dhanmondi 8. Aranya - Dhanmondi 9. Aranya - Banani 10. Pathak Shamabesh - Shahbagh 11. Bengal Boi - Dhanmondi Conceptual images of interior spaces of exhibition by Swiss Architecture Museum

‘Bengal Stream’ an Exhibition Organised by Swiss Architecture Museum with Bengal Institute Under the title “Bengal Stream: The Vibrant Architecture Scene of Bangladesh” Swiss Architecture Museum S AM in Basel will display a comprehensive exhibition on contemporary Architecture in Bangladesh from the 1st of December 2017 till the 6th of May 2018. The exhibition is produced in collaboration with Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements. Before arriving back to Dhaka, the exhibition is planned to travel to other destinations in Europe, America or Asia.

comprehensive overview of the contemporary architecture in Bangladesh while simultaneously demonstrating how the development of what can now be seen as a speciﬁcally distinguishable movement came about, the exhibition focuses on three interweaving themes: Past, Present and Future. Besides the two sections displaying historical and contemporary architecture in the delta, research and studio projects of Bengal Institute will be displayed in a special section dedicated to visions and future developments.

Rooted in a century old tradition and brought to modernity by the great master Muzharul Islam, Bangladesh’s contemporary architecture has according to the curators of the exhibition grown to one of the most relevant movements worldwide and it is imminent that there are countless lessons to learn from its architectonical approach.

Along with the exhibition that presents a vast number of original drawings, sketches and models comes a publication illustrated by images of worldrenowned architecture photographer Iwan Baan and with essays of authors from Bangladesh and Europe. The leading curator of the exhibition is Swiss architect Niklaus Graber, who has maintained a steady exchange with the architecture scene in Bangladesh over the last years and who is a visiting faculty of Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements.

The goal of the exhibition is to introduce the public to Bangladesh’s built space, both rural and urban. The exhibition is to convey knowledge about the country itself and its architectural history, past and present. Richly illustrated, it will provide an understanding of the cultural origins of the local architecture. In order to give the visitor a

“A building must have a dialogue with others, as well as yourself. It is like a living being... like an extension to your own life.” - Balkrishna Doshi “We live in resonance with our world and architecture mediates and maintains that very resonance.” “You are the co-author of every book you read because your mind imagines those literary images.” - Juhani Pallasmaa “Architecture should be about how to make good cities, not about how to make good buildings.” “City design should not just be about the city, but also about the citizens.” - Peter Buchanan “Architecture can give us a sense of this world with a sensitivity that there would not be otherwise.” - Kazi Khaleed Ashraf